Last weekend, I climbed into my ghillie suit and hit the snowy woods to try and half heartedly lure a turkey my direction. I didn’t go far when I looked to my left and there in the fresh snowfall was a deer carcass, in a swamp, on a surface I wasn’t sure would hold me so I couldn’t investigate but it was torn into 3 pieces and it all appeared “fresh red”. Forget the turkeys….. I’m in a ghillie suit and I wanted to see if anything might happen in front of my face.
I spent about 3 hours watching over the remains and really only saw crows feeding, attacking each other, and ganging up on any hawks or eagles that were getting too close. I was amazed at how oblivious they all were to my presence and it was awesome to simply watch nature in action. I was also amazed at how fast the knowledge of a fresh kill got around!
But what did it? And why wasn’t it totally consumed or hidden? I still don’t know for sure….. other than it was a member of the canine family.
As the sun was setting low, my dad and I walked up to where the cars were parked (still couldn’t access the cabin because of the snow depth) and right next to the cars was a set of tracks that told the story, of nature’s harsh reality.
The deer was running so hard it bottomed it’s chest into the snow as it entered the yard, breaking through the crusty snow cover with every stride for escape. Loping in what appeared to be a near relaxed gallop, was a set of what I believe were coyote tracks, but pretty darn big, pursuing the same tracks made by that deer.
They crossed the yard, running between the old motorhome shed and the garage, straight over the back and into the bog swamp below. The tracks came together at the bottom of the ridge and made a straight line toward where the carcass I discovered lay.
Now, I have some questions.
Coyote tracks often show 3 claws, right? Do wolves show the same?
I’ve always heard that if wolves were around, they chase off the coyotes. However, I had my caller along and that night, I got a huge response from a serenade. Coyotes thick in the eastern swamps and woods. I didn’t see a lot for tracks but if the stay in the bottoms, it’s hard to know that they’re even there. Humans break through and there’s springs all over. Dangerous ground for human travel.
The carcass…… I’ve seen coyote packs leave nothing but hair and poop at a kill sight. The deer didn’t look real big, was ripped into 3 pieces…… but only partially consumed. A possible large alpha male working solo?
The following day, only one small secion of the carcass remained. The other two were completely gone and again, I saw canine tracks. They came up out of the bottoms and went straight to the carcass. Only one set of prints. No return tracks. The animal definitely knows by scent that I’ve been near the carcass. Did it hide it? Eat it? I wish I knew.
Anyway, this was the second weekend in a row that had “pursuit trails” in fresh snowfall. I’ve also heard that if a wolf is around, you can figure a deer per wolf per week.
Any thoughts guys? Also, this is what I’m trying to hunt coyotes in. A long shot is often 30yds or less. We can’t seem to get them to come into any calls and because of water presence, we’re really limited on how to get into the woods without detection.
Dad was sick to his stomach when he visualized what had taken place and we’ve been seeing a sharp drop in our deer numbers for a few years in a row. It was the first time I saw that look in his eye….. the one that says, “I’m ready to kill some coyotes, no matter what it takes”.
What can we do? I want to keep after them, even as summer approaches. I’m all ears guys! I feel like I need some sort of interception plan…… where they’re on their way to “something” but get blasted LONG before they get there or give into flanking to investigate from a downwind side. Feeling desperate…….
